Drug Resistant Tuberculosis Is More Evident In
An article published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet, documented by Dr Abigail Wright, Dr Dennis Falzon and colleagues from the World Health Organization in Switzerland, reports that in the fourth round of data from the Global Projection on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance, greater part of the multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) weight falls in China and former Soviet States rather than in high income countries. Between 2002 and 2007, researchers using standardized results arrived at a consistent gathering of outcomes collected and evaluated from within 90,000 patients in 83 countries. Information for HIV status and cases of extensively-drug resistant (XDR) TB was also collected when possible.
From the study, researchers discovered that for new cases of TB, the average frequency of resistance to any drug was one in nine cases equaling 11 percent. In highly developed countries, the frequency of MDR-TB among new TB cases was very low from less than 1 percent in countries like UK, Netherlands and New Zealand, to between 1-2 percent in countries like France and Germany respectively. On the other hand, however, the frequency of MDR-TB in two provinces of China was up to 7 percent, and between 7 percent and 22 percent in nine countries of the former Soviet Union, including 19 percent in Moldova, and 22 percent in Baku, Azerbaijan*.
Trend investigations demonstrate that, between 1994 and 2007, the incidence of MDR in new TB cases increased significantly in South Korea (1.6 percent in 1994 to 2.7 percent in 2004) and in Tomsk Oblast (6.5 percent in 1999 to 15.0 percent in 2005) and Orel Oblast (2.6 percent in 2002 to 8.8 percent in 2006), Russia. It was stable in
The researchers write: "Data from our global survey show regional and national variation in the magnitude and trends in drug-resistant TB. Countries of the former Soviet Union, followed by some provinces of
In conclusion, the authors debate on the priorities for countries to carry out the new Stop TB Strategy. It was first introduced in 2006 and expands upon the direct observation of short-course treatment (DOTS) approach. They write: "Currently, the world is far behind reaching the targets for MDR-tuberculosis diagnosis and management set out in the second Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015. Until drug susceptibility testing is implemented routinely for tuberculosis cases as the standard for diagnosis and surveillance, survey mechanisms will continue to be crucial for the determination of trends and the documentation of emergence of further resistance to second-line drugs."
In a supplementary remark, Dr Martien W Borgdorff, Academic Medical Centre,
They write in conclusion: "Worldwide, there are early signs of action. A group of countries, which together have nearly 45% of the world's TB and high rates of drug resistance, are leading new control efforts. In March,